Most cities chart a course for development, focusing on empty swatches of land for growth and commerce.
Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson is more interested in redevelopment.
“Development is easy. You can put anything on a blank canvas. Redevelopment is totally different,” she told the Gary Chamber of Commerce Monday at its monthly meeting as she begins her second term at City Hall.
Demolition and redevelopment occupied much of Freeman-Wilson’s first term as mayor.
Once the third largest city in Indiana, an economic downturn led to a population decline and decay. Today, the population is about 78,000, down about 100,000 people from the city’s heyday in the 1960s.
“We have 52 square miles, most of which we have to target for reuse.”
Demolishing every vacant and crumbling building in the city would cost about $40 million, Freeman-Wilson said.
Gary has already received $6 million from the state from the Hardest Hit Fund that, in part, provides money to demolish blighted structures in communities that pose public safety threats. The city received another $1 million from the state for demolition along Broadway downtown and Ambassador Apartments.
Now, Freeman-Wilson hopes to capture about $4 million from the state from the Hardest Hit Fund this year, some which can be used to demolish commercial buildings. She also hopes to receive more federal money.
Last month, Congress approved a measure to transfer up to $2 billion to the Hardest Hit Fund. Freeman-Wilson is hoping that will trickle down to Gary soon.
“Even if we got $10 million more that would be significant and allow us to do a lot of demolition that’s focused and planned well,” she said.
The city has targeted redevelopment efforts in its north side from the Horace Mann neighborhood east to Miller.
“You will see an appreciable difference in the long run. As we look to offer land for redevelopment, you’ll see the benefit of that process.”
While recapping significant developments in 2015, the mayor pointed to the opening of the expanded runway at the Gary/Chicago International Airport saying charter plane traffic is up about 40 percent since the runway opened in July.
Freeman-Wilson said the airport will be a catalyst for growth, especially for transportation companies.
Twitter: @ccwriterPT
